Persona 4 Golden: The Velvet Cafe
by ThYu122
Summary: Yu Narukami was a normal everyday student. He had friends and a family that loves him. But his entire life changed when a Black-haired transfer student comes to town and he falls in love. AU where there are no Personas, Shadows, or Murders.
1. The Transfer Student

Chapter 1: The Transfer Student

* * *

 **A/N This is the first chapter of a new P4G Fanfic. This story happens in an AU where none of the supernatural things exist, and there aren't any murders. No shadows, no Personas, no murders. The Velvet Room characters (Igor, Margaret) are still going to be in the story, but only as normal people. Marie is going to be a transfer student attending Yasogami high.**

 **A few things about my writing first. Italicized text is a characters' thoughts, and the thought belongs to the person who spoke or was mentioned in the previous paragraph. Italicized text in quotation marks means that the character is speaking in English.**

 **Please leave a review. No hate, but positive feedback and constructive criticism is welcome.**

* * *

"Yu, wake up!" A male voice yelled into the ear of a silver-haired teenager sleeping on his desk. The voice belonged to a teen with light brown hair and a pair of orange headphones around his neck. "You know what'll happen if Morooka catches you sleeping in class again."

"He'll give me a slap on the wrist and put me a spot higher on his shit list." Yu Narukami said, groaning and waving his brunette friend off. "I don't really care..." A girl with short brown hair and a green jacket walked into class and sat in front of the silverette.

"You look tired, are you okay?" She asked, looking back at her sleeping friend. Yu's hand came up and pointed a thumb at the brunette wearing the headphones.

"I am tired. I ended up spending the night tutoring Yosuke for the exams next month." He said. The green-wearing girl looked surprised.

"Yosuke, you ACTUALLY studied for the exams? And a month before they happen?!" She asked. Yosuke's face became downcast and he sat in his desk.

"Gee, thanks Chie." He said, trying to act hurt.

"Oh come on, Yosuke. I love you, but I'm not gonna lie and say that you actually study most of the time." Chie Satonaka said, giggling.

"...fair enough." Yosuke Hanamura smiled, his cheeks turning slightly red.

"Where are Yukiko and Teddie?" Yu asked, noticing that his red-loving and perverted friends were noticeably missing from the conversation.

"Ted texted me earlier and said he was sick and Yukiko's helping out at the inn today." Chie said.

"Again? That's the third time this week..." Yu replied, yawning. The classroom door opened once again, and his head shot up as he heard his teachers' voice.

"ALRIGHT SHUT YER TRAPS!" Morooka roared, walking into class. A few seconds later he was followed by a girl none of them had seen before. She had chin-length black hair, dark green eyes, and was wearing a Yasogami High uniform with a blue ribbon tied around her neck.

Morooka, their homeroom teacher, walked to the center of the classroom, and the girl in stopped to the right of him. "Now I hate to waste my time, but I have to introduce the transfer student," he said, giving the girl an angry glance. "This sad sack's been thrown out of her comfortable life in the U.S. to this shitty little town on another continent. She's just as much of a worthless little skank here as she was back in America, so don't even THINK about getting involved with her." He turned his head and glared at the girl. "Write yer name on the board, and make it quick!"

The girl turned and wrote out her name in Kanji on the chalkboard, then turned to Morooka. "who are you calling a skank? I saw you staring at my ass when I went into the faculty office, you creepy old perv." She said bluntly. Our teacher's face turned beet red and smoke started puffing out of his ears.

"THAT'S IT! You're on my shit list, effective immediately. Hurry up and sit next to..." He scanned the classroom and saw that the only open seat was next to Yu. "...Narukami."

"Alright. Just try to remember that my eyes are up here, kay?" She smirked and sat down next to Yu. Still fuming, Morooka began taking attendance, and the class had broken out, murmuring about the new student.

"I can't believe she talked back to King Moron!"

"Dibs."

"Her skin is soooo pretty! And her body is amazing!"

"That girl has some balls, talking back to Morooka."

As she sat down, Yu noticed that her name on the board was written very messily.

 _Marie Kasumi..._

 _Her kanji writing is messy. She struggles with writing Japanese, might have trouble speaking it too._

"Sorry that you got stuck with King Moron for your homeroom. He can be... Difficult." Yu whispered, leaning over to her.

"If by difficult than you mean an annoying perverted scumbag, then I agree." She said with a small smile.

"I'm Yu Narukami. It's a pleasure to meet you." Yu said respectfully, holding out his hand.

"Don't be so formal, Narukami-kun. We're neighbors now." She giggled and shook his hand. "I'm Marie Kasumi." Out of nowhere, a whiteboard eraser flew at Yu and struck him in the head.

"NARUKAMI! Stop flirting with Kasumi, or you're getting detention!" Morooka yelled, glaring daggers at the silverette.

"Jackass..." Yu muttered, rubbing the side of his head.

"What was that?!" The teacher yelled angrily.

"Nothing, esteemed Sensei." Yu replied in a mocking voice, eliciting a giggles from Marie and Chie.

•*•

Yu spent the next three classes talking to Marie, much to the dismay of some of their male classmates who noticed how well the two of them were getting along.

"Alright class, your homework is problems 18 through 36 on page 109." Mrs. Nakayama said as the bell rang, dismissing the students for lunch.

"What did you bring for lunch, Kasumi-san?" Yu asked as he slung his book bag over his shoulder. Marie picked up her messenger bag and the two of them walked into the hallway.

"I didn't bring a lunch. My guardian told me that I was allowed to leave campus during lunch, so I could go buy something." She said, stopping and leaning on the railing of the balcony that looked down on the first floor.

"Do you know what you're going to get?" Yu asked her. She shrugged.

"Nope. I've only been here for a few days so I haven't eaten out yet." Marie replied. Yu leaned on the railing next to her, thinking. An idea popped into his head and he turned to face her.

"Actually, do you want to have lunch with me? I know a great place we can go to in the shopping district." Heasked her. She mulled it over for a moment.

"Sure, it sounds like fun." Marie said, smiling. As the two of them turned to walk down the stairs, Yu heard a familiar voice.

"Yu! Kasumi-san!" Yosuke yelled. He and Chie walked up to the two, holding hands. "Getting along with the new transfer student, Narukami?" He asked, winking at Yu.

"I'm not flirting with her, Yosuke, if that's what you're implying," Yu replied in an annoyed voice.

"Unlike you, Yu here doesn't just think about how to get into a girls pants." Chie said. Yu noticed Marie being quiet and remembered that she hadn't met the two of them yet.

"Oh, Kasumi-san, this is Yosuke and Chie. They have class with us." He said.

"Yeah, I know." She replied, turning to the couple and smiling. "It's nice to meet you two." She held out her hand and the two shook it.

"We're going up to the roof to eat. You two wanna come?" Yosuke asked, holding up a large takeout bag from Aiya's Diner.

"We've got beef bowls!" Chie exclaimed, pumping her fist in the air. Marie and Yu sweatdropped and exchanged wierded-out glances. Yosuke grinned sheepishly.

"Thanks for the invitation, but I was going to take Kasumi-san to lunch in the shopping district." Yu said. Yosuke raised an eyebrow. His eyes then widened and he slapped his silver-haired friend on the back.

"She's been here for less then three hours and you've already got a date with her? Good job partner!" Yosuke grinned, proud of his friend. Chie kicked him in the leg, causing him to yelp in pain. Marie noticed that a few girls from their class were looking over at them and giggling, having heard what Yosuke said.

"It's not a date!" Marie said loudly, making sure that the group of girls heard her."We're just getting lunch. That's it."

 _Dammit! It's my first day, I don't want rumors spread about me this soon!_

Yosuke stood there, confused by Marie's haste to dispel what he said. Chie elbowed him and motioned for him to say something. "I-i'm sorry, Kasumi-san. I only meant it as a joke." Yosuke stammered, looking at his feet. Marie took a few deep breaths to calm herself down.

"It's fine. Just don't go saying stuff like that if you don't know it's true," she said, taking another deep breath. "Its only my first day. I don't want some rumor to start and make me the center of attention in our class."

As Marie spoke two male students walked past the group. She could tell by the way they stared at her that they were undressing her with their eyes.

 _Too late to avoid being the center of attention, I guess._

"We should probably head up to the roof now. It was nice meeting you!" Chie said, waving goodbye as she and Yosuke walked away.

"They're not eating with us, so that means we each get two beef bowls like we planned." Yosuke said.

"More like I get three and you get one." Chie replied.

"Unfair!" Yosuke whined as the couple disappeared up the stairs.

"That was... Interesting," Marie said. "Is Hanamura-kun always like that?"

"You get used to it after a while," Yu said and they both laughed. "We should go too. We need at least 10 minutes to get to the shopping district and 10 minutes back, so that leaves us about half an hour to eat."

Marie giggled. "Okay Mr. Time management. Let's go." The two of them walked down the stairs. On the first floor, Yu noticed a familiar looking blonde punk walking next to a redhead with long pigtails and a girl with short blue hair.

"Senpaaiiiii!" The redhead yelled when she saw Yu. The three walked up to him and Marie. "Who's your cute friend?" Marie blushed lightly at the compliment.

Yu looked at her and a small smile formed on his face.

 _She's so cute when she blushes- wait, what am I thinking? I just met her!_

"Guys, this is Marie Kasumi, she just transferred here from the U.S.," He said, forcing those thought out of his head. "Kasumi-san, these are Kujikawa Rise, Tatsumi Kanj, and Shirogane Naoto." He named them off from left to right.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Kasumi-san." The blue-haired girl named Naoto said, bowing.

"Uh, yeah. Same here." Kanji, the tall punk said, bowing also.

Rise held out her hand and Marie shook it. "So Kasumi-san, what grade are you in?" She asked.

"I'm a second year, in the same class as Narukami-kun." Marie replied.

"Oh, so you're our Senpai!" Rise said happily. Marie nodded.

"What are you guys doin' for lunch?" Kanji asked.

"We're going to go eat in the shopping district. How about you guys?" Yu asked.

"Oh well, y'know... With exams comin' up and everything, Naoto's gonna to help us study." Kanji said nervously, hanging his head.

"Kanji, there's no shame in admitting that you need help with your schoolwork," Naoto said as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "We need to go to the library now. Once again, it was a pleasure to meet you Senpai."

"See ya around." Kanji said as the three of them walked off.

"We should probably get going too." Yu said. Marie smiled and they walked out of the school. He led Marie to the shopping district. They arrived at a shop called Souzai Daigaku, Marie sat down at the large table outside of the shop. Yu went up to the counter, and a came back a moment later carrying two plates.

"Steak skewers?" Marie asked as Yu sat down and placed a plate in front of her.

"Yeah." He said as he took a bite of the steak. "Why do you seem surprised?"

"I don't know. It just seems like steak skewers are more of an American thing, so I wouldn't have expected to see them here." Marie explained as she picked up and buy into the steak skewer.

"What do you think?" Yu asked.

"It's a lot tougher than other steaks that I've had, but the taste is amazing!" Marie said happily, taking another bite.

"Oh, I almost forgot. I'm going to get us a few drinks." Yu said, getting up and walking over to a vending machine at the next store. He put 1200 yen into the machine and bought two cans of UCC coffee. He went back and handed a can to Marie.

"They have canned coffee here?" Marie popped the can and took a sip. "Not bad."

"I'm guessing they don't make canned coffee in America?" Yu asked.

"Nope," She replied, taking another sip. "You seem to be pretty popular at..." She trailed off and looked like she was struggling to come up with the right word. "At... Dammit!"

"You're having trouble with Japanese?" Yu asked. Marie nodded, not meeting his gaze. "I thought so. I noticed that you were having trouble writing, and I thought you might be struggling with speaking it too."

"I'm getting better, but it's so frustrating sometimes." Marie said glumly.

 _"Would it be easier if I talked to you this way?"_ Yu asked. Marie looked up at him, surprised.

 _"You speak English?"_ She asked. Yu smiled, and Marie found herself unable to look away.

 _He's really handsome..._

 _"What were you asking me before?"_ He asked, breaking Marie out of her trance. He didn't seem to catch her staring, nor did he notice the light blush on her cheeks.

 _"I was asking how you met all of your friends. It seems like you're pretty popular."_ She replied.

 _"Oh, well it's all kinda a long story, but I'll summarize it,"_ Yu replied as he finished his steak skewer. _"I should also point out that two other close friends of mine that you haven't met yet, Yukiko Amagi and Teddie Kuma. Chie, Kanji, Yukiko, and I were all born here and we basically grew up together. Rise moved here when she was 6 and we all became friends, but over the last few years she's been going to back and forth to Tokyo to work on her singing career."_

"She's a singer?" Marie asked.

 _"Yeah. She's actually become pretty famous over the last year and has been doing a lot of modeling too."_ Yu said. _"But getting back on topic, Yosuke and Teddie both moved here three years ago and just kinda fell in with our group, and last year Yosuke and Chie started dating."_ He finished his coffee and tossed it into the garbage can. _"Oh, and before I forget, I have to warn you about Teddie. He's a great guy once you get to know him, but he's also perverted and acts like a giant flirt."_

Marie giggled and finished her coffee. _"Thanks for the heads up. But what about Naoto?"_

 _"Naoto was the newest edition to our little group. She's a detective, and she came to town two years ago to work on a case. She enrolled at Yasogami high while she was here, and she ended up liking it so much that she moved here permanently. Although she still travels around to work on cases."_

 _"You sure have some interesting friends."_ Marie said, laughing. She finished her steak skewer and threw the plate away along with her empty coffee can. Yu checked the time on his phone.

 _"Already? Wow, I guess time does fly by when you're having fun,"_ He smiled and stood up. _"Lunch is almost over. We should get back to school."_

 _"Lead the way."_ Marie said, standing up. Yu lead her back to school and they got to class just as the bell rang. The remainder of the day passed by uneventfully, and Yu and Marie decided to walk home together. The two of them walked to the train station.

 _"Why are we at the station?"_ Yu asked as the two of them stood outside of the Yasoinaba train station.

 _"I live in Okina City, so I take the train to and from here."_ Marie replied. Yu looked surprised.

 _"You live in Okina City?"_ He sounded surprised too. Marie nodded. _"Then why do you go to school here?"_

"Have you ever seen any of the schools there? They're all terrible!" Marie chuckled. _"Yasogami high seemed like a really nice school, and after some convincing my guardian let me commute here for school."_ Marie replied. Suddenly the couple heard a metallic voice coming from inside the train station.

"THE 4:45 TO OKINA CITY HAS ARRIVED." The voice said. Marie sighed.

 _"I guess I should be going now,"_ she said, a hint of sadness in her voice. "It was nice meeting you and all of your friends. I'll see you tomorrow!" Marie turned to leave.

 _"Wait a second."_ Yu called to her. She turned to face him once again. _"Before you go, can I have your phone number?"_ He asked.

 _"What?!"_ Marie practically yelled, blushing heavily. _"Uh... Sure."_ She said hesitantly, taking out her phone. She and Yu exchanged phone numbers. Yu sent her a text to make sure that he put in her number right.

 **Yu: is this Kasumi-san?**

 **Marie: yeah. I'm assuming this is Narukami-kun?**

 **Yu: yeah.**

The two of them looked up from their phones and started laughing.

 _"Kasumi-san must be kinda annoying to say all the time. Why don't you just call me Marie chan?"_ She asked nervously, looking at the ground. Yu noticed that she was blushing as she asked him.

 _I hope he's okay with calling me that. It would me so embarrassing if he wasn't!_

 _"Oh.. Sure, Marie-chan,"_ Yu replied, trying out her new nickname hesitantly. Marie breathed a sigh of relief. _"And you can just call me Yu-kun if you want."_

Marie blushed even harder. _"O-okay, Yu-kun."_ She said.

"LAST CALL FOR THE 4:45 TO OKINA CITY."

 _"I guess I really do need to go now..."_ Marie said, disappointed. She leaned in and gave Yu a kiss on the cheek. He gasped quietly, and as she moved away from they realized that they were both blushing. _"Thank you for such an amazing first day, Yu-kun. I'll see you tomorrow."_ She turned and walked into the train station. Marie ran onto the train and took a seat just as it was about to leave.

Yu stood outside of the station, frozen in place. His hand touched his cheek, right where Marie had kissed him. As the train took off, Marie leaned her head back and stared up at the ceiling of the train.

Their thoughts drifted back to each other, and though they didn't know it, they were thinking the exact same thing.

 _Wow..._


	2. Meetings

Chapter 2: Meetings

A/N you guys can expect at least one more chapter of this to come out today. Maybe two depending on how fast I'm able to write it. So please enjoy, and as always please leave a review.

* * *

 **Tuesday**

 **Yasogami High**

Marie walked to school from the train station alone the next morning. She had very mixed feelings about Yasogami High so far. On one hand she was excited to see the friends she had made the previous day, especially Yu. But on the other hand most of her teachers weren't very good at their jobs. There were a few exceptions, like Ms. Suofe, her history teacher, and Morooka. Although King Moron certainly wasn't winning any awards because of how cruel he was, when it came to philosophy he knew what he was talking about.

 _Why am I so excited to see Yu-kun? I mean, he was really nice to me yesterday, and he introduced me to a lot of his friends. But is that all? When I looked at him yesterday I felt... I don't know, weird?_

Her train of thought was broken as she walked through the school gates and immediately saw a tall silver-haired boy standing outside of the school. He was talking to two people, one of which Marie recognized. The one she knew was Naoto, the short bluenette from the previous day. Marie didn't recognize the other girl. She had long brown hair with a red hair band and a matching red cardigan instead of the Yasogami jacket, she was quite beautiful.

 _Maybe that's his other friend that he mentioned yesterday, Yukiko-san._

But her eyes quickly drifted back to Yu. Suddenly that same fuzzy feeling she had from yesterday.

 _What is that?_

Although curious, she elected to put her questions to the side for the moment and jogged over to the trio.

"Hey Yu-kun!" Marie said happily as she slowed to a stop next to the silverette.

"Oh, hey Marie-chan," Yu said with a smile, but them his face turned to a look of curiosity. "Did you walk to school alone? If you had sent me a text I would have met you at the station and we could have walked to school together." He said, quickly turning back to Naoto.

Marie thought she could hear a change in his voice from yesterday. He almost sounded sad.

 _Is he disappointed that we didn't walk to school together?_

She dismissed it as it just being her imagination and turned to the bluenette. "it's good to see you again Shirogane-san." Marie said smiling warmly.

"The pleasure is all mine, Kasumi-Senpai. But please, call me Naoto-kun from now on." Naoto replied in a respectful tone.

"Only of you call me Marie-Senpai." I said. Naoto thought for a moment.

"Marie-Senpai, you have yourself a deal." Naoto replied stiffly, causing her and Marie to both laugh. The brunette stood to the side awkwardly, not wanting to interrupt their conversation. As per usual Yu took notice of his friends' quietness and spoke up.

"Marie-chan, this is Amagi Yukiko, another friend of mine," He said, drawing Marie's attention to Yukiko. "I mentioned her yesterday, didn't I?"

Marie nodded. "Yeah, you told me about her during lunch yesterday," she confirmed. "It's nice to meet you Amagi-san..." She hesitated for a moment, unsure of wether or not she should speak her mind. "I'm hoping this isn't weird considering I just met you, but you're really pretty."

"O-oh..." Yukiko replied her face flushing. She was used to compliments about her looks, but most of them were from men and most of them were perverted. "Thank you, Kasumi-san. You're... You're quite beautiful as well." She said finally. Marie blushed from the compliment. As she did Yu looked down at the time on his phone.

"Oh, class starts in five minutes. We should probably all get to out rooms." He said. The four of them walked into the school. After saying goodbye to Naoto on the first floor and went up to their classroom on the second floor.

"You moved here all the way from America? That couldn't have been fun." Yukiko said as she placed her bag on her desk and sat down. Yu was sitting diagonal from her and Marie was standing next to her desk looking down at her phone. Yu noticed a student with blonde hair and brilliant blue eyes approach Marie. He was wearing nice dress shoes with expensive looking pants and a fancy white button up shirt with a rose in the lapel. The student stopped next to Marie and leaned on a desk.

"Hey baby. Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?" He asked as smoothly as he could. It sounded significantly better than some of the other times he'd used that line on women.

"No, but I scraped my knee when I crawled out of hell." Marie replied not even taking the time to look up from her phone. Yukiko sweatdropped while Yosuke and Chie, who were in the desks behind and in front of Yu both cracked up laughing.

Yu just stared at Marie in stunned silence.

 _I've never seen anyone reject Teddie so smoothly._

"What?!" The blonde Teddie asked in a shocked voice, moving back as if he had been struck in an over dramatic fashion. "How beary rude of you. You haven't even given me a chance yet!"

Marie chuckled and glanced up from her phone. "I don't need to give you a chance to know I'm not interested," she said. "And a few tips. First, try asking a girls' name before trying to hit on her. Second, if you're going to hit on a girl than don't use such an overused pickup line." She lectured.

"Teddie, that's your go-to pickup line and you've been rejected every time you've used it in the past month. You need to switch up your moves, man." Yosuke said.

Marie's eyes widened in recognition and she glanced at Yu and then back at the blonde. "Wait... You're Teddie?" She asked. The boy looked confused.

"Of course I am. Who else would I be?" Teddie asked. Marie sighed and sat down next to Yu.

"You have a pretty accurate description of what he was like yeaterday, Yu-kun." She said with a giggle. The rest of the group laughed with her, with the exception of Teddie who was muttering complaints under his breath. Suddenly the classroom door opened and King Moron walked in.

"SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP YOU WHORES, CLASS IS STARTING!" He yelled.

The remainder of the school day passed uneventfully. After school Yosuke and Teddie went to work, Kanji and Chie went home, and Yu, Naoto, and Yukiko all walked Marie to the train station.


	3. Creeps

Chapter 3: Creeps

* * *

 **A/N and here is the second chapter. I want to apologize for not updating my Persona 3 and 4 stories in a while. It's not that I've had writers block, I've just lacked the motivation to write them. I'm going to be working on new chapters for both stories, and hopefully they'll be released soon.**

 **As usual, please leave a review.**

* * *

 **Thursday**

 **Junes Grocery Department**

"Nanako, what's next on the list?" Yu asked as he and a child with brown hair tied in pigtails and a pink dress and red skirt walked into one of the food aisles at Junes, a large department store owned by Yosuke's dad.

"Um..." Nanako Dojima, Yu's seven year old cousin started, looking down at the list. "We need to pickled radishes for dad."

"Okay." Yu replied.

 _Of course we need pickled radishes! They're uncle Dojima's favorite food._

"Let's see. Pickled radishes... Pickled radishes... There they are!" Yu exclaimed, finally finding the jar of pickled radishes. As he was putting the jar info their shopping cart, Nanako saw the label and shook her head at him. "What is it?" He asked.

"That's not the brand dad likes." She said plainly. Yu sighed and put the jar back.

"Which brand does Dojima like?" He asked. Nanako turned to look at the shelf. Her eyes scanned up and down the rows, and she pointed at a jar with a different label on it.

"That one." She said. Yu nodded and put the other jar of pickled radishes in the cart.

"Okay, now we have pickled radishes. What's next?" Yu asked as they left the aisle and kept on walking, Nanako pushing the cart. Before Nanako could reply, they passed the snack aisle and heard a male voice talking loudly, almost yelling.

"Come on...let's go somewhere..." The boy in question said, sounding desperate. He had shaggy black hair, a mole under one of his eyes, and pitch black irises. He looked somewhat like a fish. Yu recognized him to be Mitsuo Kubo, a guy he went to middle school with. The two of them had a pretty bad past as a result of Kubo's actions towards several of Yu's friends.

"I'm sorry, but could you please leave me alone...?" Mitsuo was leaning up against the aisle, and was standing extremely close to an uncomfortable looking girl with chin-length black hair.

Yu's eyes widened as he realized who the girl was.

 _Is that Marie?_

His raven-haired friend inched away from Kubo, but every time she moved he closed the gap between between then and pressed his body against hers.

Yu took a deep breath, trying not to lose his temper and beat Mitsuo to a pulp.

 _Calm down, Narukami. You don't want a repeat of last time._

"Big bro, isn't that the boy who tried to hurt Yuki-chan?" Nanako asked. The color completely drained from Yu's face.

 _She remembers that? It was over a year ago!_

He turned to his cousin and looked at her seriously. "Nanako, stay here with the cart. Whatever you do, do NOT follow me. Do you understand?" He asked sternly but with a hint of caring in his voice. Nanako seemed to understand why he'd made that request and nodded. Yu smiled softly. "Thank you. I'll be back in a minute." He stood up and slowly approached Kubo and Marie. Neither of them noticed that they weren't alone anymore, as Kubo didn't stop advancing on Marie.

"Let's go somewhere a little more private..." Mitsuo said creepily as he held out his hand and tried to touch Marie. She slapped his hand away and took a step back. Yu took another deep breath, still trying to keep his composure.

"G-get away from me you creepyidiotpervert!" She said hastily. His empty eyes flared with anger and he grabbed her arm forcefully. She tried shoving him off, but he took the opportunity to grab her other arm and pull her closer to him. "Let go!"

As Kubo grabbed her something inside of Yu snapped. His body moved on its own, each step feeling heavier than the last.

 _This fucker has tried to hurt my friends for the last time._

"You're coming with me, Marie..." Mitsuo whispered into her ear. She tried pushing him away again to no avail. He started pulling her towards the other end of the aisle. Marie resisted as best she could, but he was too strong for her.

Suddenly, to everyone's surprise, including Nanako who was watching the scene unfold from the end of the aisle, Yu's fist collided with Kubo's face, and he flew back several feet and dropped to the ground. A loud crack could be heard as he hit the floor. His nose was bent at an angle and he was bleeding.

"Kubo..." Yu said through his rage. "didn't I make it clear that you were to stay away from my friends?!" Recognizing the voice, Kubo's eyes drifted to the silverette standing over him. His face became one of anger and he stumbled, trying to pull himself up.

"Narukami? What are you... Dammit!" Mitsuo wailed in frustration and stomped away.

 _Bastard! He got in my way AGAIN! First Yuki, and now Marie? Why must he interfere with my quest to save those two fair maidens?_

Yu glared at Kubo until he disappeared down the escalator.

"Yu-kun..." Yu heard in a shaky voice coming from behind him. He turned to face Marie, who was practically shaking. Tears were welling in her eyes. She was trying hard not to break down; she didn't want to look weak in front of her closest friend in the entire town. But something in his eyes, the mixture of sympathy and concern for her, told her that it was alright to cry. So she stopped holding back and began intensely sobbing. As tears started rolling down her cheeks, she ran forward and hugged Yu tightly. He was taken aback by her forwardness, but reciprocated the embrace nonetheless.

 _"It's okay... I'm here."_ Yu said, lightly stroking the back of her head. He switched to English thinking that it would help calm her down

 _"Wh-who was he?"_ Marie sobbed.

Yu's jaw clenched. _"Mitsuo Kubo,"_ he said, his voice filled with disgust. _"This... Isn't the first time he's done something like that."_

As he held her softly Marie cried into his jacket. She breathed heavily between tears, and inhaled a very familiar and sweet scent.

 _It must be Yu's cologne._

 _It smells really good, like maple..._

She was terrified, but with the soothing smell of his cologne along with the warmth and gentleness of his embrace, she started to calm down.

 _"...Thank you."_ Marie said, breaking off the hug after what seemed like forever. She didn't want to stop hugging him, but she also didn't want to overstay her welcome and hug him for too long. She sniffled and wiped the tears out of her eyes.

 _"Are you okay?"_ Yu asked. She nodded, still breathing heavily.

 _I get that Marie was scared, but it seems like she had a much... Stronger reaction than other girls would. Even Yukiko, and it was worse for her. I wonder if she's had experiences like this before..._

He then noticed her apparel. Marie was wearing boots, black and white striped stockings, a plaid skirt, a sleeveless white blouse with a loose black tie, and a cap similar to Naotos, except it was a lighter shade of blue and there was a golden button pinned to it with the letter 'V' engraved.

 _I've never seen her when she's not wearing her uniform. She looks really good..._

"Big bro?" Yu saw Nanako pushing the cart down the aisle towards them. "Who's the pretty girl?" She asked. Marie couldn't help smiling at the compliment from the adorable little girl.

"This is Marie-chan. A friend of mine from school," he replied, turning to Marie. "Marie-chan, this is my cousin Nanako."

Marie knelt down in front of Nanako. "It's nice to meet Nanako-chan!" She smiled as warmly as she could. Nanako smiled back.

"Are you big bro's girlfriend?" She asked innocently.

"WHAT?!" Yu and Marie yelled in unison, their faces both turning bright red. They glanced at each other, but looked away quickly as their eyes met and they both realized that the other person was blushing. Nanako was confused as to why they were both blushing and looking away from each other. "What would make you think that?" Marie asked quietly.

"You were hugging for a really long time, and it seemed like big bro was the reason you stopped crying. He also looked really happy while you two were hugging." Nanako said. Yu's face turned even redder.

"Um... Nanako, don't we still have some more groceries to get?" He asked, taking Nanako's hand. As he was about to start pushing the cart away, he looked back at Marie. She was still blushing, and Yu could tell that she was still scared.

 _I can't let her walk home alone._

"Hey, Marie-chan. Do you want to finish shopping with us? If you want I'll drop off Nanako at our place and then I can take you home." Yu asked. Marie blushed a little harder at the idea of a boy escorting her home, but she was visibly relieved that she didn't have to go home alone after what happened.

"...Sure." Marie said as nonchalantly as possible, although she was overjoyed and very grateful to Yu, as well as slightly nervous.

She trotted up next to him and the three of them resumed walking. They picked up the last few items on the list and took the bus back to Nanako's house. Nanako opened the front door and walked in and placed her shoes next to the door. "We're home!" She yelled. A man in his mid-thirties with short black hair came from around the corner and smiled.

"What took you so long?" Ryotaro Dojima, Yu's uncle and Nanako's father asked. He was wearing a gray collared shirt, black slacks, and a loose red tie.

"We would have gotten home sooner, but we ran into Yu's girlfriend." The young brunette said.

"Girlfriend?" Dojima asked, surprised. He looked past the open door and saw Marie standing next Yu. once again they were both blushing. "Good job, Yu. She's cute."

"WE'RE NOT DATING!" They yelled, both of their faces flushing. They both turned to face ach other, surprised that they spoke at the same time again. Dojima laughed and the two blushed even harder.

"Alright. Sorry, my mistake," Dojima threw his hands up in defense. "So what's your name?"

"This is Marie Kasumi. She transferred to Yasogami High on Monday." I said as I stepped inside and began taking off my shoes.

"Why don't you stay for dinner? Yu is making ramen." Dojima said. Marie turned to Yu and stifled a laugh.

"You cook?" She asked. The silverette groaned and nodded his head slightly. Marie smiled and came in. "I'd love to stay for dinner." She smiled up at Yu as she took off her boots and placed them next to Yu's shoes.

The two of them walked into the house and Yu closed the door behind them. "Is it okay if I sit?" Marie asked as she approached the couch.

Yu was about to respond when he noticed that his friend's makeup, specifically her eyeliner, had been runny and now stained the areas below her eyes.

 _How did I not notice that until now?_

"Why don't you go clean up first?" Yu suggested. Marie gave him a confused look. "Your makeup is kinka ruined." The Raven-haired girl's eyes widened, and her cheeks turned red with embarrassment.

 _How could I have forgotten about that? I've been walking around for the last hour with screwed up makeup!_

"Oh, of course," she said, trying to conceal her embarrassment. "Nanako-chan, could you show me where the bathroom is? I need to take off my makeup." Nanako nodded and took Marie's hand.

"Okay. I'll show you where big bro keeps his makeup remover!" Nanako said giggling. Marie raised her eyebrows and looked at Yu, who's face had turned red at his cousin's remark.

"Makeup remover?" She asked.

"I was in Drama club last year. That was for stage makeup!" Yu replied under his breath as Nanako pulled Marie into the bathroom.

"Why is her makeup like that, Yu?" Dojima asked, his detective intuition kicking in. "It looks to me like she was crying." He was sitting on the couch with a beer and was flipping through channels on the TV. His feet were kicked up on the table. He had a terrible feeling that he already knew the answer.

Yu's clenchedknuckles turned white. "Nanako and I were about to finish shopping when I saw Marie in the snack aisle. A guy was hitting on her, and when she rejected him he grabbed her." He told his uncle.

Dojima sat up at the edge of the couch. "This guy... Was it-"

"Kubo, yeah." Yu finished his sentence, disgust in his voice as he said the name.

"Dammit, I thought he would have learned his lesson after what happened last year," Dojima said, running a hand though his hair and placing his beer on the table. "Thank you for stepping in. I'll have to go down to Kubo's house later and have a talk with his family."

"What's the point? His parents aren't going to let anything happen to him. Even if you did arrest him he would be out by the morning." Yu replied bitterly. Mitsuo's father was the deputy mayor, thus they were one of the wealthiest families in town. His father wouldn't let him stay in jail for more than an hour, and Dojima would probably get fired for arresting him in the first place.

"I know, but still. From what you said Kubo attempted to sexually assault another girl, although to a lesser extent than the first time. If I arrest him and the deputy mayor were to set him free then I could bring the charges against him to the central office in Tokyo," Dojima rubbed his chin and finished off his beer. "The Kubo family doesn't have any sway over in Tokyo, and I'm sure that Mitsuo's five charges of assult and three charges of attempted sexual assault would probably be enough to get him at least 20 years."

Yu sighed and went into the kitchen. Having read several of Dojima's police manuels in his early teens, he was easily able to discuss his uncles job with him and understand all of the terminology that he used perfectly. "Don't forget about the one charge of assult with intent to kill." Yu reminded Dojima.

He snapped his fingers. "Oh, right...How could I forget, that one was against you." He said as he stood up and smoothed out his shirt and pants. "You need any help cooking?"

Yu chuckled. "Not at the moment, but I'll let you know if I'm ever in the mood for some really crappy sushi." He said, referencing the one time that he and Nanako let Dojima cook for the two of them. It didn't end well for anyone.

"It wasn't that bad!" Dojima defended.

"I had food poisoning for a week. If that's not bad than I don't know what is." The silverette replied as he opened up the fridge. He took out a pepper, carrots, lettuce onions, beef, and soy sauce.

"You got me there," Dojima said as he turned to leave the room. "I have some work to do, so It'll just be the three of you tonight

"Wait! Make coffee for us!" Yu yelled to him. He turned to look at him and chuckled.

"What happened to you not needing my help?" Dojima asked mockingly. Yu raised his eyebrows and glared at his uncle. "Calm down, I'm just kidding." Dojima walked back into the kitchen and got down two mugs from the shelf above the stove. "Uh... Yu?"

 _Shit..._

"Hm?" Yu asked as he took the bag soba noodles from the pantry and placed them next to the other ingredients. He noticed that Dojima had only taken out two mugs. "You know you're making coffee for three people, right?"

Dojima sighed. "I know, but..." He trailed off and took a deep breath. "We only have four mugs. Mine is at the office and Chisato's is in storage, so that leaves yours, Nanako's, and..."Yu tensed up as he listened to Dojima. He understood why he was hesitant to use the third mug.

"Just let her use it."

"Eh?" Nanako's mug slipped out of Dojima's hand. With lightning-fast reflexes he stooped down and caught it just before it hit the floor. He placed the mug down next Yu's on the counter and turned to look at his nephew. "Are you sure? I mean, this was **her** mug."

"I know that! Just get down the damn mug!" Yu yelled slamming his fist on the counter.

Taken aback by his response, Dojima nodded silently and got down the third mug. While he was surprised that Yu spoke to him in such a way, he knew why he did. It had been a very sore subject for Yu over the last few years. As he began brewing a pot of coffee Marie and Nanako finally walked out into the awkward silence that hung in the air. "What happened?" Nanako asked concerned by the heavy atmosphere.

"Nothing happened sweetie." Dojima replied in a soft voice that was common of him whenever he spoke to Nanako.

"Did you and big bro have a fight?" Nanako persisted, pursing her lips.

"No, we didn't fight. Honestly, everything is fine." Dojima reassured her. Nanako didn't seem convinced, but sighed and held up her hands in defeat. Dojima looked over at Marie, who was standing behind Nanako awkwardly, unsure of what to say. "Kasumi-san, how do you take your coffee?" He asked.

"Huh? Oh, coffee... Uh..." Marie stammered and noticed the pot of coffee brewing on the counter. "Sugar and cream." She decided finally.

"That's the way Nanako likes it too," Dojima chuckled. "Why don't you guys go watch some TV? I'll bring the coffee over to you when it's done." He suggested.

"Okay," Marie nodded and sat down on the couch with Nanako following a few seconds later. "What do you want to watch Nanako-chan?" The younger brunette pondered the question for a moment before clapping her hands together.

"Loveline!" She exclaimed turning on the TV and changing the channel to the kids network. Nanako sang along with the Loveline opening, Dojima brought over their coffee. Marie didn't know why, but he seemed hesitant to give her the cup. Before she had time to question him Dojima walked to the door and put his shoes on.

"I have to head back to work for a while. I'll be back later," he said as he opened the door. "Since you'll probably be gone by the time I get back, it was a pleasure to meet you Kasumi-san." And with that he closed the door behind him.

Marie asked several questions throughout the episode, all of which Nanako answered easily. As the episode came to an end Yu entered the room and placed three bowls of steaming hot ramen on the table. She and Nanako moved to the table and started eating. "Yu... This is amazing! How did you learn to cook like this?" She asked. He just shrugged in response.

"I'm actually self-taught." He replied as if it were nothing.

"That's really impressive. I've always wanted to learn how to cook." Marie said as she took another bite of the ramen and finished her coffee. As she placed her cup back down she noticed a name engraved on it.

 _Who is Sayuri?_

"If you want I could teach you how to cook." Yu offered with his usual charming smile.

"Seriously? Thank you!" Marie said happily. She pushed her question about the mug to the back of her mind.

I'll ask him some other time.

As the trio ate and talked Marie's phone lit up and a song started playing.

 _Do you have the time,_

 _To listen to me whine,_

 _About nothing and everything all at once?_

Marie opened up her phone and sighed. "It's from my guardian. I have to go." She stood up and smiled. "It was fun meeting you, Nanako-chan. We should hang out again."

Her closing remark made Nanako smile. "Okay Marie-chan!" She ran to the door and hugged Marie, who looked both startled and happy. She hugged Nanako back and stood up.

"You ready to go Yu-kun?" She asked. Yu nodded and the two of them walked out into the twilight and closed the door behind them.

 **Inaba Police Station**

 **15 minutes later**

Dojima draped his coat over his chair and sat down. Looking over the thick pile of paperwork on the desk in front of him he sighed. Like most people he wasn't a fan of doing paperwork, but for him it was worse than most. Most people would think that being a cop in a small town would mean less work. That, of course, was wrong. There wasn't less work. There were certainly less massive cases, but there were still a large number of small-time crimes happening every week.

Even with such a large amount of work Dojima had two much larger problems that needed to be dealt with. Luckily for him he only needed to go to one person to get both of those things done so he could get to his normal tedious work.

He opened the browser on his computer and sent an email to Naoto Shirogane.

 **Dojima: Shirogane?**

As per usual her response came quickly.

 **Naoto: Detective? Can I help you with anything?**

 **Dojima: Actually yes. Have you met a student at Yasogami High named Marie Kasumi?**

 **Naoto: Yes I have. She transferred her this Monday and is in the same class as your nephew.**

 **Dojima: there are a few thing regarding her that I need your help with.**

 **Naoto: That doesn't sound very good. Did something happen?**

 **Dojima: Earlier today she was assaulted by Mitsuo Kubo at Junes. Luckily Yu intervened and drove him off.**

 **Naoto: What? You need to send an officer over to his house immediately.**

 **Dojima: Actually I was hoping you could send an officer for me.**

 **Naoto: why can't you do it yourself?**

 **Dojima: I was going to earlier, but Yu pointed out that since Kubo's father is the deputy mayor I would get seriously reprimanded if I was the one to send an officer. I could even get taken off the force. It would be better if a person with no official affiliation to the police were the one to make the call. Since you're just a consulting detective I was hoping that you could be the one to send an officer.**

 **Naoto: Yu-Senpai is right, you would get in serious trouble for something like that. I'll send an officer, although I'm not sure how much good it will do. Even if Kubo has commuted a crime his father practically makes him immune to punishment.**

 **Dojima: I know. But we can't just let Kubo run around trying to rape girls.**

 **Naoto: I'll get it taken care of. Is there anything else Detective?**

 **Dojima: Two more things. Could you update Kubo's file and forward it to your grandfather in Tokyo? We might need his help in case things get out of hand.**

 **Naoto: of course. What is the other thing?**

 **Dojima: I'm going to call you for this other matter. It's more of a personal thing.**

Without waiting for her to respond Dojima took out his phone and called Naoto.

"Detective?" Came Naoto's firm voice through the speaker.

"I'm sorry to ask this Shirogane, but I need you to keep an eye on Marie Kasumi for me." He replied in a hushed tone. He didn't want anyone else in the office to hear him.

"Why would I do that?" She asked.

Dojima sighed. "After Kubo attacked her Yu brought her back to my place so he could drop off Nanako and then take her home. It was subtle, but based off the way Yu acted around her I think he's starting to care about her a lot. I just don't want him to get hurt again." He finished.

"Dojima, they've only known each other for a few days. I doubt that Senpai already cares about her as much as you think." Naoto replied calmly. She didn't know the main reason for Dojima's suspicion.

"He let her use Sayuri's mug." He said bluntly. He heard a gasp from the other side of call, and then silence.

That's the last thing Naoto expected to hear.

 _Dojima-san is right..._

"Shirogane?" Dojima asked in a sharp tone.

Naoto gulped. "...I-I'll help you." She said before hanging up.


End file.
